Nearly 120 employees at a South-Korean owned in the northern province of Ninh Binh, were hospitalized with symptoms of food poisoning in a two-day period, VnExpress reported Wednesday.

Of them, 29 checked into a hospital at 3 a.m. Tuesday with food poisoning symptoms like vomiting, stomachaches and dizziness.

These were among the 380 employees of MCNEX Vina who ate supper prepared in the company kitchen just after finishing their night shift early Tuesday morning .

Soon after lunch the day before, May 19, 89 company employees were hospitalized with the same symptoms just 20 minutes after eating lunch at the factory cafeteria.

After hours of treatment, 10 workers were discharged and the rest remained under care.

The Ninh Binh Health Department has asked the provincial Agency of Food Safety and Hygiene to test samples of leftovers stored in the company kitchen’s refrigerator.

Vu Manh Duong, deputy head of the department, said that the 89 workers had chicken for lunch, which was believed to have caused the sickness. No official conclusion has yet been reached.

The department also asked the company to suspend operations at their kitchen which supplies meals to a total of 600 employees.

A company representative has agreed to pay the workers a stipend of VND30,000 per meal. The company leaders have also agreed to stretch the one-hour noon break time to 2 hours, from 12 am to 2 pm, so that the workers can go out to eat.